Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Macklem, the markets predicted that you would lower the key interest rate by half a point, contrary to the opinion of the chief economist at TD Bank, who is also the bank's senior vice-president. She was calling for a quarter-point drop, saying that in September, low inflation rates were largely due to gas prices. More importantly, she said that the Bank of Canada hasn't suddenly brought rates down during a monetary cycle in the absence of signs of a recession since the early 2000s. This happened in 2001, however, when the United States fell into a recession.
I would like to hear your reactions to those statements. Also, should this half‑a‑point drop be interpreted as a harbinger of a recession? Is there a risk that it could be interpreted as such?